US troops ‘detained’ Iraqi guards at German embassy

DPA Berlin, March 8 (DPA) An incident involving US troops and Iraqi employees at the German embassy in Baghdad has frayed relations between Berlin and Washington, the weekly news magazine Der Spiegel reported Saturday. Three off-duty guards at the mission were detained and manhandled by the US troops, according to a confidential report sent by Ambassador Hanns Schumacher to the foreign ministry in Berlin, the magazine said in a report released in advance of publication Monday.

Two were released after a short time but the third was transferred from Baghdad to a detention centre near Basra where he was held for four months, Der Spiegel said.

Two of the manhandled men received financial compensation from the Americans, following representations made by German diplomats. But no apology has been made to the man held in Basra, the report said.

A spokeswoman for the foreign ministry declined to comment on the report.

The German embassy in Baghdad employs some 120 Iraqis, most of them guards. DPA